Since you haven't given your budget, it's not clear what you and your wife can and cannot afford. But if it's quite high, why live outside London? If you live near Paddington (and many places that are very nice quite close by), you would fulfil the criteria of being close to LHR, and not have a long commute, and get to live in one of the world's great cities.

Unless you have small kids or having a garden is a must, living in London is far preferable to not living in London.

tb